Writing Drum Tracks with MIDI Keyboard in Reaper

[blacK.eXe]

Hey guys!

I´m thinking about getting a small MIDI keyboard for christmas to write my drum tracks in reaper. What i dont want to do is playing them live via the keyboard - i am currently clicking notes in the drummap with the mouse but it is very time consuming so i wanted to know if there is a possibility of opening the drum map and write notes via the keyboard piece by piece (first the bass drum then snare and so on...). is there a possibility to write a note and then advance in the grid by using the arrow keys on the computer keyboard? otherwise it would be pretty useless for me to buy a keyboard and play fast double bass and blast beats on it

thanks in advance!

 

[Plankis]

I wouldn't bother buying one if your not even looking to get a human feel by recording takes in my opinion.

 

[blacK.eXe]

well i think you got me wrong - i dont want to record live takes of me playing drums. i just want to open a midi file and scroll through the timegrid to add hits element by element.afterwards i would humanize and adjust velocities in the take to make it more natural. i am not able to play blast beats and double bass at 200 BPM but that is what i want to do. if i record live takes i am limited by my ability to play drums on a keyboard...

 

[DaveBlack]

So you're looking to map the notes individually by mouse but record the velocities later with a keyboard?? I could be wrong but I'm not really sure you can do that.

To me it sounds like you're better off doing what I do (as goofy as it sounds). I literally mic up something around me like a box, turn on the metronome and start tapping out the beats one "piece of the kit" at a time. Then I go in and sample replace.

It's the same as a trigger track but you also get the humanization from the dynamic hits you're recording.

And of course, edit for tightness to your liking.

It's really as ghetto as it gets but I like the results much better than mapping a MIDI and it's velocities by mouse.

 

[Skinny Viking]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7E34WFw4HE

I wouldn't bother buying one if your not even looking to get a human feel by recording takes in my opinion.

fucking cowbell at the end killed me

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

I think what you're planning to do with the keyboard, is the same thing you're already doing with the mouse. Practice a bit more and you will get quicker at it. I purchased a MIDI keyboard for much the same purpose and it collects dust - mousing in all the notes and velocities is much, much faster.

At least, for me it is.

 

[domingooo]

The faster way to me is takin a midi file of a groove and custom it to taste (mouse of course). i havent found a faster wat to do it

 

[LeSedna]

Fastest way to program drums : Guitar Pro 5. You learn the midi notes (ex : 36=kick, 38 or 40=snare etc) you write your drums and export the midi file. When you are used to it it's damn fast.

 

[Steve1234]

I too just mouse click in all the drum parts as well and change velocities and things afterwards if needs be. I use my MIDI keyboard for all other VSTs though such as piano, orchestral sounds and various sound effects

 

[Jind]

Fastest way to program drums : Guitar Pro 5. You learn the midi notes (ex : 36=kick, 38 or 40=snare etc) you write your drums and export the midi file. When you are used to it it's damn fast.

I do like using Guitar Pro for MIDI drums - once you get the numbers down, you can rip through fleshing out drum parts pretty quickly.

On the other side of the coin, I do also like using my nanoPAD to play in some parts live to get that grooving feeling, plus I find it easier to realize the timing of some parts by just laying it live into a track, then editing afterward if needed.

 

[Plankis]

Fastest way for me is doing it in the DAW. Do one measure thoroughly and copy paste, edit the copied ones so they aren't completely similar to each other, add fills etc. I do not like programming drums in guitar pro because I tweak velocities like a madman, probably more than most of you. There's no way figuring out how those GP-mididrums will translate with your favourite drumvst.